The instant invention is directed to a paper tray support and paper feed for reproduction apparatus and the like. More particularly, the instant invention is directed to a paper tray support and paper feed, wherein the number of components is minimized and wherein the sheet feeding mechanism is simplified and made less expensive.
The cost of manufacturing and maintaining reproduction apparatus continues to increase even though the associated technology is now well developed and competition assured by numerous manufacturers. Numerous improvements have, of course, been improvements have added to the complexity of such apparatus, further escalating costs in manufacture and maintenance.
One component of desktop reproduction apparatus which is a high-cost item is the paper tray support used with multiple copy machines. Paper tray supports generally consist of a multiplicity of small mechanical parts such as bearing surfaces, retainers, springs, and the like. Accordingly, assembling paper tray supports is a labor-intensive, tedious, timeconsuming operation which is expensive in and of itself and in which mistakes can be easily made.
Since considerable hand assembly is required, it is difficult for manufacturers to subcontract out assembly with the assurance that quality control will be maintained. However, in order to control overhead and costs, it is frequently desirable for manufacturers to subcontract assembly whenever possible. This is especially the case with relatively low cost, high volume desktop reproduction apparatus in which relatively small decreases in manufacturing costs can translate into significant increases in sales as long as quality is maintained.
In reproduction apparatus, a paper feed mechanism usually functions in conjunction with the paper tray support. It is therefore desirable to have paper feed mechanisms which are reliable, inexpensive to manufacture and preferably integral with the paper tray support. It is advantageous to have paper feed mechanisms integral with paper tray supports in that during manufacture, such an arrangement can simplify assembly. Moreover, maintenance may be simplified in that an entire module may be quickly removed for repair and replaced with a spare or new module relatively quickly. This reduces downtime of the reproduction apparatus and allows the actual repair to take place at a maintenance shop.
In view of the aforedescribed and other considerations, there is a need for improvement in the configuration of paper tray supports and associated paper feeds utilized in reproduction apparatus. This is especially the case for low-cost desktop reproduction apparatus.